Giants' No. 1 a prep pitcher

Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, June 5, 2002

2002-06-05 04:00:00 PDT San Diego -- Knowing they'd select only one player in the first 65 picks of Tuesday's draft, the Giants couldn't afford to take anyone who was wishy-washy about turning pro. They chose Matthew Cain, a high school pitcher from Tennessee, with the 25th pick, and they're confident he'll turn down the scholarship he already accepted to the University of Memphis.

"We thought if we picked him in the right spot and treated him right, he would sign with us," Giants vice president of player personnel Dick Tidrow said. "He's polished, a good athlete and has command of the strike zone."

"I was surprised it was the Giants, but thrilled," Cain said. "The University of Memphis and the baseball program there are great things to fall back on, but hopefully everything works right the Giants."

Cain was 7-3 with a 1.02 ERA and 83 strikeouts in 62 innings as a senior at Houston High in Germantown, Tenn. He's 6-foot-3 and was clocked at 90 to 95 mph, according to Tidrow, who said Cain has a "hard-to-hit breaking ball." It was the seventh time in eight years the Giants used their top pick on a pitcher, with Tony Torcato the exception in 1998. Unlike recent drafts, however, the Giants didn't stock up on pitching with their early picks -- three of the four after Cain were position players.

The first, at No. 66 overall, was center fielder Fred Lewis of Southern University A&M in Louisiana. Another outfielder, Daniel Ortmeier of the University of Texas-Arlington, was the next pick, 97th overall. Lewis, who bats left-handed, hit .406 with six homers, 40 RBIs and 14 steals. Ortmeier hit .339 with 14 homers and 66 RBIs. "We didn't think we could pass on those two gentlemen. They were too good," Tidrow said. "So we took them instead of our normal way of grabbing as much pitching as we can."

Rounding out their top five picks, the Giants took Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo pitcher Kevin Corries at 127 and Duke shortstop Kevin Kelly at 157. A UC Davis pitcher, Greg Bruso, was taken in the 16th round. Asked to identify a sleeper, Tidrow pointed to 21st-rounder Travis Ishikawa, a high school first baseman from Washington state, the 537th pick.